Bob's Roman Empire

[Kent Allard]

From Douglas Brinkley’s interview with Bob Dylan

‘Because it is Easter weekend, I decide to push him on the importance of Christian Scripture in his life. “Well, sure,” he says, “that and those other first books I read were really biblical stuff. Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Ben-Hur. Those were the books that I remembered reading and finding religion in. Later on, I started reading over and over again Plutarch and his Roman Lives. And the writers Cicero, Tacitus and Marcus Aurelius…. I like the morality thing. People talk about it all the time. Some say you can’t legislate morality. Well, maybe not. But morality has gotten kind of a bad rap. In Roman thought, morality is broken down into basically four things. Wisdom, Justice, Moderation and Courage. All these are the elements that would make up the depth of a person’s morality. And then that would dictate the types of behavior patterns you’d use to respond in any given situation. I don’t look at morality as a religious thing.”‘

[Isis]

I have very close friends that are atheists and they accept me and I accept them just as they are. I do not preach to them and they do not intimidate me for my beliefs.
I respect them and they respect me. I think that is the way it has to be? Some of my atheist friends ahve just as much morality as some of my religious friends. I agree with Kent it is not a religious thing. Everybody know there are religious people that do bad things that is not in tune at all with high moral standards.

[Landys ghost]

Yeah read this ages ago.....and your point is?We always have to guess dont we

Shall we discuss Empires? Whats your opinion of them? I'm not in favour of them, personally I think their immoral and the Roman one was a pretty brutal one and it's society not as moral as Dylan seems to believe,for instance ,you do know they left disabled babies on hillsides to die dont you? incest was rife,slavery.... crucifixion etc - they may have spoken a good game by defining morality as Dylan says but were pretty hypocritical in the process

or are you implying that Dylan must be intellectual or widely read - we know that! - , the above oldish interview doesnt tell us anything to draw upon really, apart from him drawing a distinction at the end thats not earth shattering at all, as a point of view most normal people would probably agree with it, in fact it adds weight to my argument that morality is not confined to "believers" or...shall we have a thread of interviews? actually theres a book published which does that

As the great John Cleese said

"What have the Romans done for us?"

There again maybe your implying something very mysterious and vague

[Isis]

Do they have proof that incest was part of normal life in the Roman Empire?

The vikings did the same thing with disabled babies and so did the eskimos.

[Landys ghost]

do they have proof that incest was part of normal life in the roman empire?

The vikings did the same thing with disabled babies and so did the eskimos.

yes, and two [or more ] wrongs make a right??

[Isis]

yes, and two [or more ] wrongs make a right??

No of course not. That was so not right at all. Complete disaster.

[Kent Allard]

Why does Bob like Plutarch so much...think I should google a bit....

[Landys ghost]

He probably likes him because of all the sex , so fuckin' what?, your like Mr Jones walking round with a microscope inspecting Dylans mind hoping to find the secret of life , why dont you rummage through his garbage you crank

[Kent Allard]

I know the secret of life.

[Landys ghost]

you fuckin' would, why dont you piss off you smug twat

"I know the secret of life" fuck me get you

[Sandrine]

Why does Bob like Plutarch so much...think I should google a bit....


This ?

Bob Dylan on morality
May 15, 2009 · Leave a Comment

From Douglas Brinkley’s interview with Bob Dylan is the May 11 edition of Rolling Stone:

‘Because it is Easter weekend, I decide to push him on the importance of Christian Scripture in his life. “Well, sure,” he says, “that and those other first books I read were really biblical stuff. Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Ben-Hur. Those were the books that I remembered reading and finding religion in. Later on, I started reading over and over again Plutarch and his Roman Lives. And the writers Cicero, Tacitus and Marcus Aurelius…. I like the morality thing. People talk about it all the time. Some say you can’t legislate morality. Well, maybe not. But morality has gotten kind of a bad rap. In Roman thought, morality is broken down into basically four things. Wisdom, Justice, Moderation and Courage. All these are the elements that would make up the depth of a person’s morality. And then that would dictate the types of behavior patterns you’d use to respond in any given situation. I don’t look at morality as a religious thing.”‘

[Landys ghost]

doh - that started the thread off? doh

[Kent Allard]

It's all about parallel lives...how one's morality affects one's fate. That's what Dylan likes about Plutarch.

[Landys ghost]

cause and affect,it's what everyone [ or most of us ] are taught by our parents seems bleedin' obvious to me,tell me, are you really intellectual or just pretending?, why are you unable to speak da plain Inglish ? what are "parallel lives" for goodness sake, come on come down from your lofty height and communicate... but, please, you must tell us about this conversation you had with Dylan where he told you what he likes about this bloke or is this just another assumption and attempt to place Dylan on a pedestal

gosh he must be super intelligent to read romans and no doubt in the original etruscan too!!

[Kent Allard]

You should be able to figure out whether or not I'm an intellectual or not from what I write...here or anywhere else. I have co-authored a text book and written over 30 scientific papers. I suppose that makes me a scholar, but not necessarily an intellectual

[Landys ghost]

ooow, am I supposed to be impressed? have you examined the nightingale's code yet?...I'm just asking you to communicate on a normal level not like some text book

[Kent Allard]

No... most scientists my age have accomplished much more than me. The Nightingale's Code


http://www.touched.co.uk/pdf/NCsample.pdf

[Landys ghost]

What were you a scientist in? what do you do for a living?

I think you missed my point, my fault for communicating a poor assumption, and assumptions are always dangerous...you still havent explained parallel l ives, but I'm used to you side stepping issues.

Being a Scientist you examine and analise, right? and, in my opinion, thats what "grates" on me....yes I KNOW D's work is such that it commands respect and consideration--- but you seem to analise to death,almost to the extent of forgetting that the songs are primarily ENTERTAINMENT for people to enjoy?,maybe thats your way of enjoying them,except you seem to concentrate on very specific - usually post 1979 - works that fall into your particular bag.

You never discuss the music, concerts [ have you seen a D concert btw? ] record production, singing styles etc etc or whether you just enjoy the stuff for it's own sake, you know, eg as background in the car - it's all analysis and making him out to be a performer whose delivering some wonderful philosophy , dont you realise what a drag that can be? it's narrow minded and fails to smell the coffee...."Nightingales Code" refers to someone like that ,he misses the beauty because he's so wrapped up in interpretation

and, as your fond of using interviews as "evidence", try listening to the Webberman telephone call, and watch the BBC doc "getting to Dylan" and see how sucked off D gets with this type of thing

[Kent Allard]

What were you a scientist in? what do you do for a living?

I think you missed my point, my fault for communicating a poor assumption, and assumptions are always dangerous...you still havent explained parallel l ives, but I'm used to you side stepping issues.

Being a Scientist you examine and analise, right? and, in my opinion, thats what "grates" on me....yes I KNOW D's work is such that it commands respect and consideration--- but you seem to analise to death,almost to the extent of forgetting that the songs are primarily ENTERTAINMENT for people to enjoy?,maybe thats your way of enjoying them,except you seem to concentrate on very specific - usually post 1979 - works that fall into your particular bag.

You never discuss the music, concerts [ have you seen a D concert btw? ] record production, singing styles etc etc or whether you just enjoy the stuff for it's own sake, you know, eg as background in the car - it's all analysis and making him out to be a performer whose delivering some wonderful philosophy , dont you realise what a drag that can be? it's narrow minded and fails to smell the coffee...."Nightingales Code" refers to someone like that ,he misses the beauty because he's so wrapped up in interpretation

and, as your fond of using interviews as "evidence", try listening to the Webberman telephone call, and watch the BBC doc "getting to Dylan" and see how sucked off D gets with this type of thing

Actually, I don't analyse Dylan's songs, I analyse the Bibble. Dylan's songs make an impression on me though, and I do have an analytical mind. A scientific training can be a curse sometimes.

Perhaps I'm now more of a theologian than a scientist, but that's where my life has led me...I go with the flow.

[Landys ghost]

You surprise me....how on earth do you arriver at your conclusions without studying his work....very clever

[Kent Allard]

You surprise me....how on earth do you arriver at your conclusions without studying his work....very clever

Truthfully, Masked and Anonymous and I'm Not There have influenced my thinking more than Dylan's songs. The songs that have affected me most are 'Cross the Green Mountain' and 'Thunder on the Mountain', because the moralities of the two songs seem to be opposed to each other. Love and Theft is a remarkably challenging work because of it's preposterous mix of ideas...I love it, and always will.

PS I worked as a biochemist for 10 years and as a soil microbiologist/chemist for 14 years. Now, I teach kids with special needs.

[Landys ghost]

last sentence....good for you and hopefully the kids too! :)

[Kent Allard]

Thank you.